In this post, you will learn how to set up a WordPress site on its own separate subdomain without using Multisite.
Note: This article is intended for WPMU DEV members, as it utilizes features of WPMU DEV hosting. If you are not a member yet, consider joining with our no-risk free trial.
Suppose you run a web agency (e.g. https://webagency.site) and you would like to use your main website strictly for promotional or marketing purposes but you also want to run a completely separate WordPress installation on a subdomain under the same brand as your main site (i.e. using the same domain).
For example:
- a Learning Management System (LMS) section at
https://lms.webagency.site, - an eCommerce store (e.g.
https://store.webagency.site), - run events and ticket sales on
https://event.webagency.site, - or simply show your clients a pre-launched site you’re building as part of your white label service (e.g.
https://client1.webagency.site).
To do this, you would normally have to set up a WordPress multisite installation, specify subdomains (instead of subdirectories) in your setup, and then add a new WordPress site to your Multisite network.
But, what if you want to set up and run a completely separate WordPress site on a subdomain without having to go through a Multisite environment?
As this article will show you, you can easily do this by creating an additional WPMU DEV hosted site.
In this tutorial, we’ll cover the following:
Benefits and Drawbacks of Installing WordPress on a Subdomain Without Multisite
Let’s start with the benefits of setting up and maintaining a single subdomain site using the method we’ll show you further below:
- It’s easier than installing, setting up, and maintaining an entire Multisite installation. We will effectively use The Hub as if it were the network site on an multisite setup.
- You can set up, develop and launch WordPress subdomain sites without affecting the original main site.
- No need to change the main hosting package size, just create a new hosting package. Also, since the site will be hosted on a separate server account, you can modify your hosting (e.g. upgrade or downgrade your plan) without touching your main site’s hosting.
- All plugins associated with your subdomain site (e.g. LMS, events, and/or WooCommerce, etc.) are kept separate from the main site causing less server strain.
- If your main site is more static (i.e. only has company info pages) and your subdomain site needs to be dynamic (e.g. an ecommerce site), having both sites hosted on separate accounts allows you to keep your main site relatively more stable, especially with regards to plugin updates. This can also affect caching on the more static vs dynamic site (i.e. main site experiences longer/better caching).
- There are less chances of experiencing plugin conflicts, as you’ll only
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This article was written by Martin Aranovitch and originally published on WPMU DEV Blog.